


Chase the Shadows

by htbthomas



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Birthday Fic Challenge 2017, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, post-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-18 01:18:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10606314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/htbthomas/pseuds/htbthomas
Summary: Stroking her hair, he murmurs, "I'm going to find him, Marinette. I'm going todestroyhim."





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [milleniumrex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/milleniumrex/gifts).



> Birthday fic for milleniumrex/wombatking. His prompt was: “how about some post-reveal fluff with them patching each other up and giving each other some TLC after a particularly tough battle?”

"It's just…" The words come out slowly, haltingly. "...I thought... he was _you_. I didn't... realize it until... he had my yo-yo... in his hands…"

Adrien hugs her to his chest. She's badly wounded from the fall, but her emotional wounds may be worse—and without her yo-yo there's no way to capture and cleanse the akuma. She never even got the chance to summon her Lucky Charm. He's injured, too, bruised all over from Chat Nuit's staff. It shouldn't have been able to hurt him, but somehow it had. Stroking her hair, he murmurs, "I'm going to find him, Marinette. I'm going to _destroy_ him."

"No, Adrien… you can't. That would destroy… you." Her voice is thready now, and his ears want to bleed from the sound of it. "Just… get it back."

"I will, Milady, I promise." He wipes a trickle of blood from her temple to stop it from going into her eyes. Then he's springing away, praying to whatever gods will hear that she'll be safe in that hidden alcove until he can defeat his doppelganger.

 _Plagg_ , he thinks fiercely at the one little god he knows can hear him, _if you've been saving any hidden extra strength for a special occasion, now's the time._

His vision brightens and he somehow knows that Chat Nuit is ahead of him, hiding behind the next roof. His staff is spinning even as he lands.

Chat Nuit's staff comes up to block his, and the two weapons meet with a thunderous clack. " _Parry_ nice to meet you at last, Chat Noir," he sneers.

His heart burns with hate and anger at this charlatan who betrayed Ladybug, the love of his life, and tricked her into trusting him. Having his own propensity for puns used against him is the evil cherry on top of the cheesecake. So that's the only quip Chat Noir lets him get out before he pushes Chat Nuit back with a vicious shove. "Give me her yo-yo. _Now._ "

Chat Nuit dances back as if he's not affected in the slightest. "Not much for repartee tonight, eh? I suppose you're nothing without your Lady…"

It's the worst thing Chat Nuit could have said. Power burns past the pain as he readies Cataclysm. He's only got one shot to hit the akumatized item, and his gut is telling him it must be the cat ears, held to Chat Nuit's head with a headband. It's the only real difference between their costumes, which are eerily similar in every other way.

Though Chat Nuit tries to dodge, Chat Noir's claw catches the edge of the ear, and the headband dissolves to dust. Then the costume reverts back to street clothes, the akuma flutters up, his opponent's eyes roll back in his skull, and he begins to tumble backward off the roof. For a wicked moment, Chat Noir considers letting him fall, just as Chat Nuit had done to Ladybug, but he can't. Not only because heroes don't do that, but because he still hears his Lady's pained exhortations in his ear.

He shoots out one arm to catch the victim, reaches out his other hand to snag the akuma by one wing, then leaps toward the street to set the victim down carefully against a lamppost. He searches the boy's unconscious body one-handed for the yo-yo, and when he finds it, he doesn't wait for the boy to wake up. He can't. His lady needs him.

He finds her curled up in the alcove, her hair matted with blood, her breathing weak, her heart rate erratic. He shakes her shoulder as gently as he can, murmuring, "I have it, Milady. I have them both."

Her eyes remain closed and his heart hammers with worry. Is it too late? "Milady? Marinette?" She can't be too far gone yet. Not when all it will take is cleansing the akuma and releasing the healing magic. His ring gives its first beep then and another worry adds itself to the pile—that he'll lose his hold on the akuma when his transformation releases. 

"My love," he whispers, placing the yo-yo in her still hands. "Wake up." He caresses the side of her face and kisses her. On the forehead, on the cheek, on the eyes, nose and lips. "Please. For me."

She coughs and stirs weakly. "Adrien? Did you…?"

"In your hand." He presses her gloved fingers around it.

He helps her twist it open, and the bright cleansing light draws the struggling akuma from his fingertips into the yo-yo's heart. Soon a white butterfly flutters up and away, to wherever they go after they're cleansed. 

He doesn't spare it much thought. There's more to do. "Do you have the strength to toss it up?"

She gives him a slight nod, very slight. He places his hand below hers, and gives her just that extra bit of lift as she calls, "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The Ladybug magic washes over him, over her, brightening the darkness both inside and out. His bruises and aches are gone, the blood in her hair is gone. She catches the yo-yo as it comes down and sits up, immediately turning to him. "Are you okay? I was so worried for you, going after him all alone." She wraps her arms around him and pulls him close.

He lets himself enjoy the feeling of her pressing against him, closing his eyes and relaxing. "I'm—" His ring beeps for the second time. "—going to need to get down from here soon." He pulls back to look at her again, to make sure she's really okay. "How about you?"

"I feel all right now." She gets to her feet, stretching and testing her weight on each foot. Then she takes his hand and threads her fingers through his, pulling him to his feet as well. "And glad I'm with you. The actual you. He seemed so real..." She shudders, and shadows pass across her eyes.

"Milady," he says, squeezing her fingers. Her physical injuries might be gone, but the internal ones will take longer. His heart pangs at the thought.

Her earrings beep for the first time. "I guess I'd better be going, too." She takes a step toward the edge of the roof, but doesn't let go of his hand. 

He pulls her back and into a kiss that lasts through the next beep from both of their Miraculouses. When they finally break he murmurs against her lips, "Think your parents have any _pain au chocolat_ left?"

She grins against his. "You'll have to see for yourself."

He stays awake until she's drifting into slumber against his shoulder, the television in her living room flickering with late-night talk shows. And if nightmares come, he'll be there to chase the shadows away and help her back to sleep.


End file.
